Hallerbos Spring 2018 – Events and Museum

Visit Hallerbos 2018 in Spring

Hallerbos is an enchanting forest with purple-blue wild hyacinth flowers flourishing all over the place in spring. Also known as bluebells, forests with such flowers are rare in the world. Therefore, the peculiar charm attracts many visitors and photographers. They flood to the renowned Hallerbos for witnessing the stunning sight during the blooming period around mid-April.

The primary attraction of Hallerbos during spring is certainly the blooming hyacinth flowers. Hence, a walk in the forest is undoubtedly rewarding. The climate condition of the early spring is a key influence in the colouring of the flowers as they undergo several colour phases.

So, the flower blooms are not the same every year. The best time to visit the Hallerbos is end March. Visitors can pleasure themselves in the irresistible dense clusters of hyacinths carpeting the whole forest.

Hallerbos is in the municipality of Halle. It is approximately 25 km away from Brussels by driving. The forest has most parts concentrated in the Flemish Brabant. The minority of it is in Walloon Brabant. It is a magnificent forest not to be missed!

Hallerbos Rules

Here are some house rules for visitors and photographers to observe strictly.

It is important to always stay on the designated path for photo-taking and filming so as to preserve the nature. The soil and unique vegetation are susceptible to damage by stepping on it.

Plucking the flowers and bringing them back home are forbidden.

For cyclists, there are designated cycling tracks indicated by the signboards.

Professional photo shoots, filming, with or without models ought to request permission through the film counter.

Operating Hours

Hallerbos Volunteers Wanted in 2018

The Government of Flanders strives to protect and enhance the development of nature.

Date: 14 April to 6 May 2018 (Hyacinths Bloom Period)

Time: Flexible

Agentschap Natuur en Bos (ANB) – Agency of Nature and Forest is seeking volunteers who can give a few hours of their time over the weekend to ensure a green and peaceful environment. The volunteering time is flexible. There are two types of positions currently.

The first group of volunteers welcome the visitors to Hallerbos. They make sure that the visitors do not stay off from the designated paths and walk onto the forest ground due to the highly vulnerable flowers and vegetation.

The second group of volunteers wanted are the Parking Attendants to lead the parking in the right direction.

What can ANB offer you?

Work in an enchanting nature of Flanders

Enhance social interactions with other volunteers who share your interests

Material required to execute the task would be available

There will be voluntary insurance for the volunteers throughout the course of volunteering.

Are you interested?

The management will contact you within two weeks. Alternatively, you can contact Groenendaal Regional Office.

Email: groenendaal.anb@vlaanderen.be

Tel: 02 658 24 60

Hours: Monday to Friday (08h30 to 15h30)

Forest Museum

Visitors can also visit the free Forest Museum from 14h to 17h30 on the following dates. (PS: 2018 date will be released later but you have an idea that the museum is likely to open only on every Sunday for a month.)

During autumn, the Forest Museum opens on 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 October 2017 on Sunday afternoons.

How to Go Hallerbos by Public Transport?

Take a train and arrive at STATION HALLE.

Weekday

BUS 114

Visitors can take a 9 minutes bus ride from (A) Halle Station Bus Stop and alight at (J) Halle Vlasmarkt Bus Stop.

Walk 4 minutes to Bosmuseum (Forest Museum) from the bus stop.

Walk 3 more minutes to the Hallerbos Entrance from the Bosmuseum.

Take note that the transport company for Bus 114 is TEC and not DE LIJN. There are several bus stops around Halle Train Station. So, remember to go to the correct station so that you can find Bus 114 (TEC) easily. Note that this service onlyoperates on the weekday.

There seems to be no bus route of 114 in Google Maps from Halle Station to Halle Vlasmarkt. Therefore, I decided to customise my own map. I marked all the bus stations of 114 from the starting point to the destination accordingly with the help of TEC app (Google Play Store) to ensure accuracy. Alternatively, the Bus Schedule for Bus 114 (PDF) can be downloaded.

Please click on the top left-hand corner of Google Maps to get more detail. The coloured icons will provide some other information as well upon clicking.

Weekend and Public Holiday

The journey of Bus 114 takes 9 minutes to arrive at Hallerbos. Unfortunately, the short route for this bus service is not available over the weekend. Thus, visitors will have to take a bus that runs on a longer distance. There are two available bus numbers operated by De Lijn to go Hallerbos over the weekend.

Note: I have monitored the Google Maps below for a week ever since my uploads of the maps. For Bus 156, if you check the map of this post during the weekday, it will only reflect the Bus 114 bus route instead. Likewise, if you check the map after the operating hours at night, the map will display bus route of 153. As a result, the bus journey of 156 will only show if you see this post over the weekend.

Take the bus from Halle Station Perron4. Alight at Lembeek Congo (20 stops). The travelling time is approximately 20 minutes.

Walk 20 minutes (1.5 km) from the bus stop to the entrance of Hallerbos located at Vlasmarktdreef 4.

Take the bus from Halle Station Perron3. Alight at Essenbeek Mooi Vergezicht (14 stops). The travelling time is approximately 16 minutes.

According to Google Maps below, the walking distance is approximately 37 minutes for 3 km. Hallerbos official website mentioned that it took 15 minutes to walk from Essenbeek Mooi Vergezicht via the road Hogebermweg ‘P1’.

I have not figured out how one could reach the Hallerbos entrance in 15 minutes time. Between Bus 156 and 155, it seems that Bus 156 is a better choice of public transportation over the weekend to save time from walking more than 30 minutes. It is also more convenient for people who have young children.

Remember to share the event with your friend or on social media so that more people can discover the Bellbell Forest which is a Pride of Belgium!

About Live in Belgium

Hello, my name is MissSJ. I am a Singaporean. I am living with my Belgian partner since July 2016 in a cosmopolitan city, Antwerp. However, I had been travelling to and fro Belgium since 2011 as a tourist. The creation of this blog is to document my new journey in Belgium which I would like to call 'home'. Join me in discovering the fascinating Belgium from the eyes of an expat.

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